Farm work support device and method, program, recording medium, and farm work support system

ABSTRACT

Provided is a farm work support device including a reception unit configured to receive designation of plants to be cultivated, a retrieval unit configured to retrieve a vegetation design which is a vegetation combination proper for construction of a mixed and dense growth state of the designated plants, and an output unit configured to output the retrieved vegetation design.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/408,476, filed on Dec. 16, 2014, which is a national stage ofInternational Application No. PCT/JP2013/067364 filed on Jun. 25, 2013and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-150172 filedon Jul. 4, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

The present technology relates to a farm work support device and method,a program, a recording medium, and a farm work support system, andparticularly, to a farm work support device and method, a program, arecording medium, and a farm work support system providing support sothat a worker can determine an optimum vegetation combination.

In order to cultivate flowers, vegetables, or the like at home andobtain an outcome, for example, knowledge regarding cultivation such asselection of species, planting times, states of soil, kinds offertilizers, fertilizer spreading times and methods, and watering timesand methods are necessary. To nurture farm products in a farm field andsell the farm products as commercial goods, additional knowledge andexperience regarding cultivation of an even greater depth regardinggrowing periods, weather conditions, and pesticide spraying arenecessary. As a result, there are considerable differences in obtainableresults between inexperienced workers and skilled workers.

Accordingly, devices supporting farm work have been suggested so thatinexperienced workers can do proper farm work (for example, see PatentLiterature 1).

In the farm work support device of Patent Literature 1, a plurality ofseedlings of farm products are imaged with a camera so that at least oneseedling to be thinned is included in a captured image. Then, a seedlingto be thinned is specified from the plurality of seedlings in thecaptured image and thinning target information regarding the specifiedseedling to be thinned is output.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 2010-231733A

SUMMARY Technical Problem

In the farm work support device of Patent Literature 1, however, theseedling to be thinned can only be specified based on the captured imageand it is difficult to provide support so that the worker can determinea combination of vegetation proper for construction of a mixed and densegrowth state.

The present technology is devised in view of such a circumstance andprovides support so that a worker can determine an optimum vegetationcombination.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided afarm work support device including a reception unit configured toreceive designation of plants to be cultivated, a retrieval unitconfigured to retrieve a vegetation design which is a vegetationcombination proper for construction of a mixed and dense growth state ofthe designated plants, and an output unit configured to output theretrieved vegetation design.

An evaluation unit configured to evaluate a score of the retrievedvegetation design may be further provided, and the output unit mayoutput the vegetation design corresponding to the score evaluated by theevaluation unit.

A calculation unit configured to calculate a score of the retrievedvegetation design may be further provided, and the evaluation unit mayevaluate the score calculated by the calculation unit.

The output unit may output the vegetation design corresponding to thescore of which a value is higher.

The retrieval unit may retrieve the vegetation design from at least oneof allelopathy of the plants and information regarding crop rotationaptitude.

The score may be an average value of scores of the crop rotationaptitude and the allelopathy to which a collection of the plantscorresponds.

The plants may be cultivated according to collaborative farming.

The plants may be managed based on GPS coordinates of vegetationpositions of the plants.

A tag may be managed in conjunction with the GPS coordinates of theplants.

The tag may be displayed to be superimposed on an image of the plants asan AR tag.

A key event may be managed in conjunction with the GPS coordinates ofthe plants.

A photo of the plants may be managed in conjunction with the GPScoordinates of the plants.

The associated key event may be graphed.

A field in which the plants vegetate may be managed hierarchically.

The field may be managed on a map.

Solution to Problem

A method, a program, a recording medium, and a farm work support systemaccording to an aspect of the present technology are the method, theprogram, the recording medium, and the farm work support systemcorresponding to the farm work support device according to an aspect ofthe present disclosure described above.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda farm work support device including a reception unit configured toreceive designation of plants to be cultivated, an acquisition unitconfigured to acquire a vegetation design of the designated plants, anda display unit configured to display the acquired vegetation design.

The farm work support device may be carried and used in a field.

A photographing unit configured to photograph the plants may be furtherprovided.

A detection unit configured to detect the GPS coordinates of vegetationpositions of the plants may be further provided.

An input unit configured to input at least one of a tag conjunct withthe GPS coordinates of the plants and a key event conjunct with the GPScoordinates of the plants may be further provided.

The display unit displays the tag to be superimposed on an image of theplants photographed by the photographing unit may be further provided.

The display unit hierarchically displays a field in which the plantsvegetate may be further provided.

The display unit displays a position of the field on a map may befurther provided.

The plants may be cultivated according to collaborative farming.

The display unit may display the vegetation design corresponding toevaluated scores.

The display unit may display the vegetation design corresponding to thescores of which a value is higher, and the input unit may designate thenumber of displayed scores of which the value is higher.

The display unit may display the vegetation design retrieved from atleast one of allelopathy of the plants and information regarding croprotation aptitude.

The score may be an average value of all elements of the crop rotationaptitude and the allelopathy to which a collection of the plantscorresponds.

A method, a program, and a recording medium according to another aspectof the present technology are the method, the program, and the recordingmedium corresponding to the farm work support device according toanother aspect of the present technology described above.

According to one aspect of the present technology, designation of plantsto be cultivated is received, a vegetation design which is a combinationof vegetation proper for construction of a mixed and dense growth stateof the designated plants is retrieved, and the retrieved vegetationdesign is displayed.

According to another aspect of the present technology, designation ofplants to be cultivated is received, a vegetation design of thedesignated plants is acquired, and the acquired vegetation design isdisplayed.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

As described above, according to the aspects of the present technology,it is possible to provide support so that a worker can determine anoptimum vegetation combination.

Additional features and advantages are described herein, and will beapparent from the following Detailed Description and the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a farm worksupport system according to the present technology.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of aserver.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of aterminal.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a field.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of aplanting database.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of avegetation database.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of ayield database.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of amanagement recording database.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of aphenology database using text.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of aphenology database using images.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of aninsect and animal plexus database.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of aweather database.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of anallelopathy database.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of acrop rotation aptitude database.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing a process of supporting a vegetationdesign.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an output example of symbioticallelopathy.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an ARtag.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a display example of distribution offields on a map.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for describing a process when previous farm fieldinformation is referred to.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for describing a photo upload process.

FIG. 22 is a diagram for describing a process of generating acause-and-effect estimation graph of a key event.

FIG. 23 is a diagram schematically illustrating the process ofgenerating the cause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, modes (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) for carryingout the present technology will be described. The description will bemade in the following order.

1. Configuration of farm work support system 12. Functional configuration of server 113. Functional configuration of terminal 124. Configuration of field 21-15. Example of database 556. Vegetation design support process7. Farm work support system 1 using AR

8. Site map

9. Process of referring to previous farm field information10. Photo upload process11. Process of generating cause-and-effect estimation graph of key event12. Example of meta-database 86 of key event

13. Others

14. Application of the present technology to program15. Other configurations of the present technology

Configuration of Farm Work Support System 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a farm worksupport system 1 according to the present technology. The farm worksupport system 1 is configured to include at least one server 11 andterminals 12-1 to 12-3 used in any number (three in the embodiment ofFIG. 1) of fields 21-1 to 21-3.

When it is not necessary to distinguish the terminals 12-1 to 12-3 fromeach other, the terminals 12-1 to 12-3 are simply referred to as theterminals 12. The same also applies to fields 12-1 to 21-3, wirelessLANs 13-1 to 13-3 to be described below, field divisions 151-1-1 and151-1-2, ribs 152-1-1-1 to 152-1-2-2, rib divisions 153-1-1-1-1 to153-1-2-2-4, and the like.

The terminal 12 is a farm work support device carried and used in thefield 21 by a user (for example, a farmer) who receives support in farmwork. The server 11 is a farm work support device used by a supportersupporting the user of the terminal 12.

The fields 21-1 to 21-3, which are farm fields, may be managed and usedby different workers or may be managed and used by the same worker.Regions may be suburban areas or may be, for example, regions inHokkaido or Kyushu of Japan or regions in distant regions of Japan, theUSA, or the like. The number of terminals 12 used in the same field maybe plural.

The terminal 12-1 is connected to the server 11 via the correspondingwireless local area network (LAN) 13-1 and the Internet 14. Likewise,the terminal 12-2 is connected to the server 11 via the correspondingwireless LAN 13-2 and the Internet 14 and the terminal 12-3 is connectedto the server 11 via the corresponding wireless LAN 13-3 and theInternet 14. That is, the wireless LANs 13-1 to 13-3 have functions ofconnecting the terminals 12-1 to 12-3 used in the fields 21-1 to 21-3 tothe Internet 14, respectively. In other words, the terminals 12 and theserver 11 are connected via a network 15 formed by the wireless LANs 13and the Internet 14. The network 15 may have any configuration. Theterminal 12 can be configured as a tablet terminal with a camera.

2. Functional Configuration of Server 11

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of theserver 11. The server 11 includes an input unit 51, an output unit 52, acommunication unit 53, and a control unit 54. In the embodiment, theserver 11 includes a database 55.

For example, by mounting a removable medium 57 serving as a packagemedium or the like on a drive 56, a program to be used by the controlunit 54 can be provided to the control unit 54. Of course, the programmay be installed in advance in a memory included in the control unit 54.

The input unit 51 is configured to include a keyboard or a mouse and isoperated when a user inputs predetermined information. The output unit52 is configured to include a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathoderay tube (CRT) and displays various kinds of information. The outputunit 52 includes a speaker or the like to output audio. Thecommunication unit 53 including a reception unit 53R and a transmissionunit 53T performs communication with the Internet 14.

The control unit 54 is configured to include, for example, amicroprocessor and controls each unit of the server 11 according to apredetermined program to perform a predetermined process. The controlunit 54 includes functional blocks of a retrieval unit 61, an evaluationunit 63, and a key even processing unit 64.

The retrieval unit 61 performs a process of retrieving various kinds ofinformation. The evaluation unit 63 performs an evaluation process for acalculation result or the like. The key event processing unit 64performs a process for a key event.

The farm work support system 1 is proper when farm work mainly accordingto collaborative farming is supported. The collaborative farming refersto an agricultural system in which high yields are realized in total onthe basis of thinning harvest from mixed and dense growth and speciesdiversity exceeding natural states by vegetation placement under theconditions of no plowing, no fertilization, no pesticides and none isbrought except for seeds and seedlings.

Since considerable amounts of knowledge should be considered inassessment of an achievement degree of the collaborative farming and atthe time of management and harvest work, various databases (hereinaftersimply abbreviated as DBs when necessary) that support management of thecollaborative farming are prepared in the farm work support system 1.

A DB 55 includes a planting DB 71, a vegetation DB 72, a yield DB 73, amanagement recording DB 74, a phenology DB 75, an insect and animalplexus DB 76, a microbiota DB 77, a climatic division DB 78, a weatherDB 79, and a coordinate DB 80. The DB 55 further includes acollaborative farming assessment review DB 81, an allelopathy DB 82, acrop rotation aptitude DB 83, a plant name DB 84, a photo recording DB85, and a meta-DB 86.

In the DB 55, data is stored in a comma separated values (csv) file (forexample, 2-dimensional matrix format file) or an image file. All or apart of the DB 55 can also be disposed independently from the server 11and connected to the server 11 via the network 15. A part of the DB 55can also be provided in the terminal 12. Further, a part of the DB 55may be downloaded to the terminal 12 to be used. By doing so, theterminal 12 can be used at the field 21 where the terminal 12 may not beconnected to the server 11. The details of the DB 55 will be describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 5 to 14.

Functional Configuration of Terminal 12

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of theterminal 12. The portable terminal 12 having a waterproof property tothe extent of water resistance includes a coordinate detection unit 101,an output unit 102, an input unit 103, a photographing unit 104, acommunication unit 105, and a control unit 106.

The coordinate detection unit 101 detects positional coordinates of theterminal 12 based on, for example, the Global Positioning System (GPS).The output unit 102 includes a display unit 102D configured to include,for example, an LCD and displays predetermined information. The outputunit 102 includes a speaker or the like to output audio. The input unit103 is configured to include, for example, a touch pad and inputsvarious kinds of information such as text, etc. by selecting icons,buttons, and the like displayed on the display unit 102D. The input unit103 includes a microphone or the like to input audio.

The photographing unit 104 includes, for example, a camera andphotographs any subject of a farm product and others. The photographingunit 104 can be configured to include, for example, a Real-TimeKinematics GPS unit with high precision. The communication unit 105including a reception unit 105R and a transmission unit 105T has acommunication function of, for example, wireless fidelity (WiFi) andperforms wireless communication with the wireless LAN 13. Thus, theterminal 12 can communicate with the server 11 via the Internet 14. Thecontrol unit 106 is configured to include, for example, a microprocessorand controls various motions of the terminal 12 according to aninstalled program.

For example, by mounting a removable medium 108 serving as a packagemedium on a drive 107, the terminal 12 is configured to provide thecontrol unit 106 with a program to be used by the control unit 106. Ofcourse, the program may be installed in advance in a memory included inthe control unit 106.

The control unit 106 includes a display control unit 121 and anacquisition unit 122 as functional blocks. The display control unit 121controls display of a display unit 101D. The acquisition unit 122acquires various kinds of information.

When all or a part of the DB 55 of FIG. 2 is provided on the side of theterminal 12 of FIG. 3, all or some of the retrieval unit 61, theevaluation unit 63, and the key event processing unit 64 of the controlunit 54 in FIG. 2 are provided on the side of the terminal 12. However,by providing the DB 55 on the side of the server 11, the load of theportable terminal 12 can be lowered.

Configuration of Field 21-1

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the field 21-1.Although not illustrated, the fields 21-2 and 21-3 or the like have thesame configuration as the field 21-1. The field 21-1 is configured toinclude any number (two in FIG. 4) equal to or greater than one or morefield divisions 151-1-1 and 151-1-2. The field division 151-1-1 isconfigured to include any number (two in FIG. 4) equal to or greaterthan one or more ribs 152-1-1-1 and 152-1-1-2. The rib 152-1-1-1 isconfigured to include any number (four in FIG. 4) equal to or greaterthan one or more rib divisions 153-1-1-1-1 to 153-1-1-1-4. Likewise, therib 152-1-1-2 is also configured to include any number (four in FIG. 4)equal to or greater than one or more rib divisions 153-1-1-2-1 to153-1-1-2-4. The rib 152-1-1-2 has the same configuration as the rib152-1-1-1.

Although the description of the field division 151-1-2 is omitted, thefield division 151-1-2 has the same configuration as the field division151-1-1.

The GPS coordinates of the field 21, the field division 151, the rib152, the rib division 153, and the like can be expressed as thecoordinates of the middle of each region.

The farm field of the collaborative farming is different from previousfarming and considerably various species coexist spatially, and thus itis necessary to optimally determine management harvest methods for theindividual species according to each mutual interaction or previous andsubsequent vegetation plans. Accordingly, the shapes of the field 21,the field division 151, the rib 152, the rib division 153, and the likemay be regular rectangular shapes such as a square shape, a rectangularshape, or a linear shape, but the embodiment is not necessarily limitedthereto. Any shape may be used.

Example of DB 55

Next, an example of the DB 55 will be described.

The planting DB 71 is configured to include, for example, csv files.FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of theplanting DB 71. In this example, information regarding recorded years,months, and days, the field divisions, the rib numbers, the ribdivisions, distinction between seeds and seedlings, product names(written in kanji), product names (written in katakana), quantities, andmakers are recorded. Since gathering and growing methods can bedifferent for each maker despite the same kind of seeds and seedling anda maker name can be a kind of cultivation condition, it is desirable tomanage and record the maker name.

For example, on Jan. 18, 2012, it is recorded that 0.5 kg of a seedlingof a potato (May Queen) made by a maker A was planted in the ribs of allof the field divisions SW. Further, it is recorded that 2 bags of theseeds of lettuce (King Crown) made by a maker C are sown in all of thefield divisions.

In the product name (written in kanji), information including a kind ofspecies, “potato (Irish cobbler potato),” is recorded in kanji. However,in the product name (written in katakana), information regarding only aname, “potato,” is recorded in katakana without distinguishing a kind ofspecies. Such representation of only such unified text facilitates easyretrieval

The vegetation DB 72 is configured to include, for example, csv files.FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of thevegetation DB 72. In this example, recorded years, months, and days andmeasured division coordinates are recorded. For example, the followingmeasurements are recorded at measured division coordinates NE. On Jan.23, 2012, it is recorded that sprouts of fava beans are established,harvest of carrots is possible, harvest of radishes is possible, greenonions are established, broccoli seedlings are established, cabbageseedlings are established, and napa cabbage seedlings are establishedand harvest thereof is possible.

It is recorded that weeds are observed in Poaceae, Asteraceae, andLeguminosae and harvest of red winding chicories is possible. Forexample, a predetermined plant can also be classified theoretically inmore detail than Poaceae. However, it is not usually useful to classifythe predetermined plant in further detail.

On Feb. 25, 2012, details measured at the measured division coordinatesNE are recorded.

The yield DB 73 is configured to include, for example, csv files. FIG. 7is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the yieldDB 73. In this example, the yields of the harvested products arerecorded on harvested days of months. For example, 100 g of Horonigalettuce is harvested on Jan. 14, 2012, and 1700 g, 4000 g, 1500 g, 740g, and 1500 g of daikon are harvested on January 24, January 29, January30, January 31, and February 20, respectively.

Furthermore, the yields of turnips, turnips of a W farm, Italianparsley, salad chives, mint, rosemary, komatsuna, Mu vegetable, greenonions, radishes, radishes of the W farm, celery, burdock, bok Choi,garland chrysanthemums, small ginseng, small ginseng of the W farm,large and medium ginseng of the W farm, cauliflower, cabbage (stemcabbage?), island Japanese leeks, green napa cabbage, and butterbursprouts are recorded. “W farm” is the name of a farm and “stem cabbage?”indicates that an observer may not have precisely identified whether thecabbage is stem cabbage. “Mu vegetable” is not a general name but is aname for the plant coined by the observer. In FIG. 7, the recording ofthe coordinates is omitted, but the field 21, the field division 151,the rib 152, the rib division 153, the GPS coordinates, and the like canalso be recorded.

When the yield DB 73 is input, input information regarding the plantingDB 71 can be used. For example, when the yield DB 73 is input,information regarding plants managed by the planting DB 71 can beconfigured to be displayed without change.

The management recording DB 74 is configured to include, for example,csv files. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of the management recording DB 74. In this example,performed management work and the year, month, and day on which themanagement work is performed are recorded. For example, it is recordedthat seedling planting and construction work such as wind protectionfence making are performed on Jan. 19, 2012, Jan. 20, 2012, Jan. 21,2012, Jan. 22, 2012, and Jan. 23, 2012.

The phenology DB 75 is configured to include, for example, image filesand csv files. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of the phenology DB 75 using text. In this example, thecontent and the recording date of phenology are recorded with text. Forexample, it is recorded that an unclear kind of plant is observed, aplant grows better than others, lower portions of peas are withered, anda place at which plants apparently grow more than others is observed onJan. 9, 2011.

On the other hand, FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of the phenology DB 75 by images. In this example,phenology observed in a field with the name “Oiso Collaborative Farm” isrecorded on each date along with photographed photos and simple addedcomments.

In the upper left of the drawing, phenology 1 which is an imagephotographed when a place is Oiso, a date is Sep. 22, 2011, a fielddivision is NN, a rib number is 02, and a rib division is d3 isillustrated. In the upper middle of the drawing, phenology 1-2 which isan image photographed at the same place is illustrated along with acomment “Seed leaves are considerably sprouting in NN02d3.”

In this way, the phenology DB 75 records the phenology observed by theworker using text and images.

The insect and animal plexus DB 76 is configured to include image filesand csv files. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of the insect and animal plexus DB 76. In A of FIG. 11, aninsect image photographed in a field 087 with the name of ISE New Farmon Feb. 18, 2012 is illustrated. As a comment, it is recorded that anobservation place is ISE New Farm, an order of the insect is Coleoptera,a family of the insect is Tenebrionidae, the insect is classified as adarkling beetle, and the insect hibernates in groups under stones.

In B of FIG. 11, an insect image photographed in a field 088 with thename of ISE New Farm on Feb. 18, 2012 is illustrated. As a comment, thesame content as that in A of FIG. 11 is recorded.

In C of FIG. 11, an image photographed in a field 089 with the name ofISE New Farm on Feb. 18, 2012 is illustrated. As a comment, it isrecorded that an observation place is ISE New Farm, the animal is anarachnid, an order of the animal is Araneae, a family of the animal isLycosidae, its binomial name is Pardosa astrigera, and this species isthe most cosmopolitan species in the wolf spider family and is oftenobserved wandering near the Earth's surface.

The microbiota DB 77 is configured to include image files and csv files.The microbiota DB 77 records information regarding microorganismsanalyzed from soil samples acquired in a collaborative farm.

The climatic division DB 78 is configured to include csv files. Theclimatic division DB 78 is a DB that records information regardingclimatic division in which a farm is located and is divided into laurelforests, deciduous forests, subtropical climate, tropical climate, andthe like.

The weather DB 79 records, for example, image files graphed from weatherdata of a weather satellite such as AMeDAS, csv files, and various kindsof weather data obtained by measurement devices installed in a farmfield.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of theweather DB 79. In this example, weather information such as atmosphere,precipitation, temperature, and humidity in Tsu District in 2012 isrecorded at the beginning, middle, and end of each month. For example,at the beginning of January, the average atmosphere of the localdistrict is 1018.7 hPa and the average atmosphere of the sea level is1021.0 hPa. The maximum precipitation is 0.5 mm during 10 minutes, 0.5mm for 1 hour, and 0.5 mm during 1 day, and a total is 0.5 mm. Thehighest temperature is 11.6° C. and the lowest temperature is 0.2° C.,the highest average of 1 day is 9.2° C., the lowest average of 1 day is2.0° C., and the average of a day is 5.2° C. An average humidity is 62%and the lowest humidity is 24%.

The coordinate DB 80 is configured to include csv files. The coordinateDB 80 records the GPS coordinates of each rib of the field. Thecoordinates have precision of about 10 centimeters.

The collaborative farming assessment review DB 81 is configured toinclude pdf or image files. The collaborative farming assessment reviewis a certificate issued when evaluation of collaborative forming iscompleted and is issued when a server manager evaluates a field based ona request from a manager of the field 21 and confirms that conditions ofthe collaborative farming are satisfied. The fact that products from thefarm receiving the issue are produced according to the collaborativefarming is recognized to be recorded.

The allelopathy DB 82 is configured to include, for example, csv files.FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of theallelopathy DB 82. In this example, allelopathy of green onions,watermelons or melons (Cucurbitaceae), carrots, foxtail millet/millet,barley/wheat, squash, watermelons/cucumbers/squash (Cucurbitaceae), andgarlic or onions is recorded. Here, “1” means that symbiotic interaction(that is, a stimulation action) between target plants is confirmed and“0” means that the symbiotic interaction is not confirmed. For example,the symbiotic interaction is confirmed between green onions and carrots,but the symbiotic interaction between green onions and barley/wheat isnot confirmed. Further, the degree of the interaction can be expressedstep by step using numerals 0 to 10 or the like.

The crop rotation aptitude DB 83 is configured to include csv files.FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of thecrop rotation aptitude DB 83. In this example, crop rotation aptitude ofwatermelons or melons (Cucurbitaceae) and peanuts is recorded. Here, “1”means that excellent crop rotation aptitude between target plants isconfirmed in that field and “0” means that the crop rotation aptitude isnot confirmed. For example, excellent crop rotation aptitude betweenwatermelons or melons (Cucurbitaceae) and peanuts is confirmed.

The allelopathy DB 82 and the crop rotation aptitude DB 83 are generatednot only from information known from documents or the like but also fromother information. For example, comparing and referring to the plantingDB 71, the vegetation DB 72, and the yield DB 73, the allelopathy DB 82and the crop rotation aptitude DB 83 can also be generated in the sameform from a combination of vegetation in which a mixed growth state isactually established in a collaborative farm or a combination in whichvegetation succession (that is, a change in temporal vegetation) occurs.

The plant name DB 84 records the names and images of various plants. Thephoto recording DB 85 records various photos. The meta-DB 86 records keyevents.

The DB 55 records various kinds of information necessary to obtain thevegetation design of plants cultivated in the collaborative farm inaddition to the foregoing information.

Vegetation Design Support Process

Next, a process when the farm work support system 1 supports thevegetation design will be described. In the farm work support system 1,when a user inputs crops which the user desires to cultivate, acombination of vegetation proper for construction of the mixed and densegrowth state and these crops, i.e., a vegetation design, is retrievedfrom the allelopathy DB 82 and the crop rotation aptitude DB 83. Then, atime and space arrangement of the vegetation design expected to have thelowest cost and largest yields is output.

Since the collaborative farming is based on the mixed and dense growth,a plurality of seeds of crops can be planted in a mixed manner andgrowing crops are harvested. High achievement of the degree of mixed anddense growth and a combination of seeds to be sown depend on appropriateplants and land conditions. Thus, it is necessary to expect theappropriate plants and the land condition from both of the previouslyknown interaction between the plants (allelopathy or crop rotationaptitude) and a combination that is effective in practice in a farmfield.

Since an ecosystem or weather can rarely be completely controlled,planted seeds or planted seedlings may not all be harvested. However, toestimate a vegetation combination realizing as much cost reduction andquantity maximization as possible is a task of the vegetation design.Since the vegetation design is conceptually similar to constitution of aportfolio in stock investment, the vegetation design can be called aseed portfolio.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for describing a process of supporting thevegetation design. As illustrated in the drawing, in step S11, theacquisition unit 122 of the control unit 106 of the terminal 12 acquiresselection of the kinds of plants to be cultivated. That is, when theuser operates the input unit 103 to designate the kinds of plants to becultivated, the kinds of plants are acquired by the acquisition unit122. When the kinds of plants are input, a method of causing the user toinput any plant name may be performed or a prepared list of plant namesmay be displayed by the display unit 102D and predetermined plant namesmay be selected from the plant names. In this way, the designation ofthe plants to be cultivated is received.

In step S12, the transmission unit 105T outputs the kinds of receivedplants. That is, the transmission unit 105T outputs the plant namesacquired in step S11. The plant names are supplied to the server 11 viathe wireless LAN 13 and the Internet 14.

In step S31, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives thetransmitted kinds of plants. That is, the kinds of plants transmittedfrom the terminal 12 in step S12 are received by the server 11. Thus,the plants to be cultivated by the user are received by the server 11.In step S32, in the server 11, the retrieval unit 61 of the control unit54 retrieves the vegetation design including the received kinds ofplants. That is, the retrieval unit 61 exclusively retrieves acombination of vegetation proper for the construction of the mixed anddense growth state and the plants designated by the user from at leastone of the allelopathy DB 82 and the crop rotation aptitude DB 83. Whenthe received kinds of plants are confirmed, the plant name DB 84 is alsoused as necessary.

In step S33, the calculation unit 62 calculates a symbiotic score ofeach vegetation design retrieved in step S32. That is, the symbioticscore of each combination of vegetation which is one or more vegetationdesigns retrieved in step S32 and is proper for the construction of themixed and dense growth and the designated plants is calculated.

The symbiotic score is defined as an average value of all of theelements recorded in the allelopathy DB 82 and the crop rotationaptitude DB 83 corresponding to a collection of the kinds of plantsdesired to be planted. All of the elements are weighted scores of allkinds of plants and the weighted scores are values obtained byevaluating the interaction of the plants as positive or negativenumerical values. That is, the symbiotic score SC is expressed by thefollowing equation on the assumption that n is the number of weightedscores of all of the plants and Ei is the value of the weighted score ofan i-th (where i=1, 2, . . . , n) plant. Further, the value Ei of theweighted score is a value which is larger when the degree of aptitudefor the construction of the mixed and dense growth state is larger.

SC=ΣEi/n   (1)

A larger value of the symbiotic score means that the symbioticinteraction is stronger, i.e., there is an empirical rule that thesymbiotic interaction is strong. A smaller value (or a larger negativevalue) means that competitive interaction is strong.

In the allelopathy DB 82 and the crop rotation aptitude DB 83, the valueof the weighted score obtained by evaluating the interaction as apositive or negative numerical value is recorded for each combination ofthe kinds of plants generated from a document and farm field data. Thatis, the vegetation state of the kinds of planted plants recorded in theplanting DB 71 is recorded in the vegetation DB 72 and the yieldsobtained from the plants are recorded in the yield DB 73. Whenever theweighted scores of the plants are observed, the plants are added to theplanting DB 71, the vegetation DB 72, and the yield DB 73. Finally,larger weighted scores are given when the yields in the combinations arelarger. Even for the crop rotation aptitude DB 83, larger weightedscores are similarly recorded in combinations of the plants proper forthe crop rotation. The symbiotic scores based on the weighted scores arerecorded in the allelopathy DB 82.

For example, when peanuts are designated, as the symbiotic score of thepeanuts with watermelons, which are one of the other plants recorded asa combination target with the peanuts, an average value of the weightedscores for elements such as various conditions and results when both thepeanuts and the watermelons vegetate in the mixed and dense growth stateis calculated. When the yield is large, a large weighted score isallocated to the element. When the yield is small, a small weightedscore is allocated. Such an average value is calculated and isconsidered as a symbiotic score. The calculation may be performedwhenever a plant is designated or may be automatically performed at apredetermined timing.

When all of the integrated values in the allelopathy DB 82 and the croprotation aptitude DB 83 are used for the calculation of the symbioticscores, cases of changes in the kinds of plants easily growing each yearmay be averaged by vegetation succession. Accordingly, evaluation can beperformed even with a symbiotic score which is an average value ofvariable time differences partitioned to the degree of the latestseveral years. In consideration of this, correspondence to and use ofthe vegetation succession can be made.

In step S34, the evaluation unit 63 evaluates the symbiotic score ofeach vegetation design retrieved in step S31. That is, the symbioticscore of each vegetation design including the designated plants iscompared.

In step S35, the evaluation unit 63 selects the vegetation design with ahigher symbiotic score. That is, at least one combination of the kindsof plants in which the value of the symbiotic score evaluated in stepS34 is large is selected in descending order.

When all of the retrieved vegetation designs are presented to the userwithout change, the processes of evaluating the symbiotic scores andselecting the vegetation design with the higher value of the symbioticscore can be omitted.

When the user is allowed to evaluate the symbiotic scores, the processesof evaluating the symbiotic scores and selecting the vegetation designwith the higher value of the symbiotic score can be omitted.

In step S36, the transmission unit 53T outputs the selected vegetationdesign. That is, the vegetation design selected in step S35 is suppliedvia the Internet 14 and the wireless LAN 13 to the terminal 12 havingtransmitted the kinds of plants received in step S31 to the server 11.

In step S13, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives thevegetation design output from the server 11. Accordingly, the vegetationdesign of the plants designated by the user in step S11 is acquired. Instep S14, the display control unit 121 of the control unit 106 displaysthe received vegetation design. That is, the vegetation design acquiredin step S13 is output to the display unit 102D.

Accordingly, the user can know each combination of the vegetation properfor the construction of the mixed and dense growth state and the kindsof plants input in step S11. The user can select a predeterminedcombination from the combinations suggested and displayed by the farmwork support system 1 to actually cultivate the plants in the field 21.Since the displayed combination is each combination of the vegetationproper for the construction of the mixed and dense growth state and thekinds of plants designated by the user, the plants can be reliablycultivated. As a result, cost can also be lower than when plants arecultivated in a random combination. However, the information presentedto the user is not predicted information. The information is referenceinformation of prediction based on the previous empirical rule. Theprediction is made by the user based on the reference information.

Since plants vegetate in the mixed and dense growth state in thecollaborative farming, a good result may not be obtained even when farmwork is formulated in several forms and any one of the forms isselected, as in the case of monoculture in which a cultivation area isdivided for each plant. In the farm work support system 1, a newcombination can be proposed to a user based on observation of the user.For example, when the user finds that symbiotic interaction is strong ina combination of certain vegetation and insects, a vegetation design canbe performed using the combination.

Further, in the farm work support system 1, a plurality of kinds ofplants vegetate in the mixed and dense growth state. Therefore, a riskcan be dispersed compared to when only one kind of plant is cultivated,and thus many yields can be obtained on average. This is why thevegetation design of the farm work support system 1 is called a seedportfolio. Accordingly, the user can be allowed to designate the numberof high-order combinations to be presented. Of course, the user can alsobe allowed to suggest the number of more proper plants. Thus, riskmanagement can be performed.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an output example of symbioticallelopathy. FIG. 16 illustrates a display example of step S14 in FIG.15. In FIG. 16, 10 kinds of plants shown in the uppermost row and plants(that is, companion plants) proper for the construction of the mixed anddense growth state are shown in the lower rows. For example, plantsproper for the construction of the mixed and dense growth state withcorn are watermelons or melons (Cucurbitaceae), squash, beans,lettuce/salad vegetables, Cucurbitaceae, sweet basil, common beans,geraniums, melons, parsley, soybeans, white edge morning glory,komatsuna, and leaf vegetables. Further, plants proper for theconstruction of the mixed and dense growth state with celery aretomatoes, cabbage, napa cabbage, turnips, and peas.

That is, when the user inputs a plant name in the uppermost row, theplant names shown in the lower rows are displayed as the plant properfor the construction of the mixed and dense growth state. Accordingly,the user can select at least one plant from the displayed plants tovegetate the plant along with the designated plants in the mixed anddense growth state.

In the example of FIG. 16, only the plant names are shown, but thecorresponding symbiotic scores may be sequentially displayed together indescending order.

Farm Work Support System 1 Using AR

In the collaborative farming, a vast amount of information has to beprocessed in the job field since it is necessary to ultimately performvegetation management with precision of each plant in a farm field, forexample, vegetation management regarding which vegetables remain andwhich grasses are cut down. Accordingly, in the farm work support system1, augmented reality (AR) is adopted for a process of eliminating theamount of information without regard to a difference in an individualability.

When an AR technology is used outside, two methods, i.e., a method ofusing markers for image recognition and a marker-less method of usingobjects in landscape as markers, are considered. However, when markersare installed, the markers may interfere with work. Conversely, when themarker-less method is used, recognition precision is not sufficient forphysical movement necessary in farm work. That is, it is difficult torecognize an image when a worker is working (to recognize the markers ina natural image) and it is difficult to substantially perform farm work.

Accordingly, the farm work support system 1 performs tagging based onthe GPS coordinates on information recorded in the DB 55. Then, bydesignating the GPS coordinates, the terminal 12 reads informationcorresponding to the GPS coordinates. As the GPS, for example, a GPS(for example, RTK-LIB) capable of recognizing positional informationwith a precision of 10 centimeters can be used.

Specifically, a species name can be tagged to predetermined GPScoordinates of each vegetable actually vegetating, information regardingplanting or management work can be tagged for each rib of predeterminedGPS coordinates, or predetermined information can be tagged toindigenous vegetation of predetermined GPS coordinates. By using thistechnology, information processing necessary for management of thecollaborative farming can be performed with only the terminal 12 readingAR information without installing the markers or the like at all in anactual farm field.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example of an ARtag. A tag is actually displayed in a superimposed manner on areal-world image of a moving image or a still image obtained throughphotographing by the photographing unit 104. In FIG. 17, however,vegetables of the real world are schematically shown for easyunderstanding. A tag with a plurality of attributes can be displayed foreach attribute or in a superimposed manner.

In the display example of FIG. 17, the user performs mowing in August2011 and performs planting in September 2011 in this place. Informationregarding which seeds is planted is recorded in the management recordingDB 74 in association with the tag of the planting. At present, napacabbage, Chinese chives, radishes, cauliflower, komatsuna, and edibleburdock vegetate in this place.

As illustrated in FIG. 17, napa cabbage 201 to 204, Chinese chives 205,radishes 06, cauliflower 207, komatsuna 208, edible burdock 209, and amugwort gregarious zone 210 vegetate at positions indicated bypredetermined GPS coordinates of each field 21. These plants arerecorded and managed in the vegetation DB 72 along with the tags of thenapa cabbage, the Chinese chives, the radishes, the cauliflower, thekomatsuna, the edible burdock, and the mugwort gregarious zone added bythe user so that the plants are specified by the GPS coordinates.

That is, when the user observes such plants and operates the input unit103 to input the names of the plants as tags, the tags are added to theplants vegetating at the GPS coordinate positions and managed. When theuser photographs a predetermined plant of the field 21 using thephotographing unit 104, its image is displayed on the display unit 102D.Further, when a predetermined instruction is input, as illustrated inFIG. 17, a corresponding tag is displayed to be superimposed on theimage of the actual plant at the GPS coordinates. The mugwort gregariouszone 210 does not correspond to plants vegetating as the result of theuser planting the seeds, but to indigenous plants. However, a tag isadded to the mugwort gregarious zone 210 as indigenous vegetationinformation by the user.

The plants to vegetate are changed depending on a period, and the tagsare managed by adding years, months, and days.

Site Map

The server 11 supplies the user of the terminal 12 with a web pagelinked according to geographic hierarchy illustrated in FIG. 18 in theDB 55. An icon used to select the DB 55 is displayed on the web page foran operation from the touch panel of the terminal 12.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the web page. Asillustrated in the drawing, the web page is configured with thehierarchy of a home page, a distribution of fields on a map, allinformation on fields, all information on field divisions, and allinformation on rib divisions in the order of the high-level hierarchy tothe low-level hierarchy. The hierarchy of the home page, thedistribution of the fields on the map, all of the information on thefields, all of the information on the field divisions, and all of theinformation on the rib divisions correspond to the geographic hierarchyof the fields 21, the field divisions 151, and the rib divisions 153.Accordingly, the display unit 102D of the output unit 102 outputs anddisplays the fields 21 according to the hierarchy structure. Forexample, the user can select screens of the field divisions 151-1-1,151-1-2, etc. from the screen of the field 21-1 and can select screensof the rib divisions 153-1-1-1-1, 153-1-1-1-2, etc from the screen ofthe field division 151-1-1. Hierarchy of the ribs 152 may also beprovided, but is omitted in this example.

All of the information on the fields links to the weather division DB78, the weather DB 79, the collaborative farming assessment review DB81, the photo recording DB 85, and the coordinate DB 80 recording theGPS coordinates. All of the information on the field divisions links tothe yield DB 73, the insect and animal plexus DB 76, the phenology DB75, the photo recording DB 85, and the coordinate DB 80. All of theinformation on the rib divisions links to the planting DB 71, thevegetation DB 72, the phenology DB 75, the photo recording DB 85, andthe coordinate DB 80.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the distributionof the fields on the map. In this example, the positions of the fieldsare indicated by flags 301 on the globe map. Icons 302 to 309respectively correspond to the planting DB 71, the vegetation DB 72, theyield DB 73, the photo recording DB 85, the phenology DB 75, the insectand animal plexus DB 76, the climatic division DB 78, and the weather DB79 and are operated when each DB is read. A geographic hierarchy icon310 is operated when a field level is selected.

An icon 311 is operated when retrieval is instructed. An icon 312 isoperated when sorting is instructed. An icon 313 is operated when a keyevent is instructed.

When the retrieval icon 311 is operated, the retrieval unit 61 of theserver 11 retrieves all words and file names. The retrieval unit 61 alsohas a synonym retrieval function. Thus, batch retrieval can also beperformed when date formats are different. For example, dates such as“April 1, 2011,” “20110401,” “01042011,” “2011/4/1,” “1/4/2011,” and“2011, April 1” are considered to be identical. Further, batch retrievalin which kana notation/kanji notation/Japanese names/scientificnames/English names/vernacular names of species are considered to beidentical can also be performed. For example, potato and Solanumtuberosum are considered to be identical.

When the sorting icon 312 is operated, the retrieval unit 61 performssorting for each parameter. For example, retrieval results can berearranged for each parameter such as a date order or Japanese syllabaryorder.

Of these icons, only the operable icons are displayed on the screen.

Process of Referring to Previous Farm Field Information

Next, a process when previous farm field information is referred to willbe described with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is a diagram fordescribing the process when previous farm field information is referredto.

In step S101, the acquisition unit 122 of the terminal 12 acquiresinformation regarding levels of the fields 21. That is, when the userrefers to the information regarding the levels of the fields 21, theuser operates the input unit 103 to select the geographic hierarchy icon310 (see FIG. 19). When this operation is performed, the display unit102D displays a screen used to select the levels of the fields 21. Thatis, the levels of the list of the fields are displayed. The useroperates the input unit 103 to select the field 21 to be referred tofrom the screen. When the acquisition unit 122 acquires the informationregarding the selection, the transmission unit 105T outputs theinformation regarding the selection to the server 11.

In step S141, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation regarding the levels of the fields 21 selected by theterminal 12. In step S142, a process of generating and outputting a listof the fields 21 with the levels selected by the terminal 12 in stepS101 is performed. That is, the retrieval unit 61 retrieves thecoordinate DB 80, the list of the fields 21 with the levels received instep S141 is generated, and the transmission unit 53T outputs the listto the terminal 12.

In step S102, a process of receiving and displaying the list isperformed. That is, the list output from the server 11 is received bythe reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 and the list is displayed onthe display unit 102D by the display control unit 121.

The user operates the input unit 103 to select the field 21 to bereferred to from the display list. In step S103, the transmission unit105T outputs the information regarding the field 21 selected from thelist.

In step S143, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation regarding the field 21 selected by the terminal 12.

In step S144, the retrieval unit 61 retrieves the DB 55 of theinformation regarding the field received in step S143. That is, the DBs55 related to the field 21 with the level designated by the user areretrieved. In step S145, a process of outputting the list of theretrieved DBs 55 of the field 21 is performed. That is, the retrievalunit 61 generates the list of the related DBs 55 based on the retrievalresult and the transmission unit 53T outputs the list to the terminal12.

In step S104, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives thelist of the retrieved DBs 55 of the field 21. In step S105, the displaycontrol unit 121 displays the received list of the DBs 55 of the field21. That is, the list is displayed on the display unit 102D.

The user operates the input unit 103 to input the coordinates of thefield 21 and the DB 55 to be referred to in the displayed list. In stepS106, the acquisition unit 122 acquires information regarding the inputcoordinates of the field 21 and the DB 55 to be referred to. In stepS107, the transmission unit 105T outputs the information acquired instep S106.

In step S146, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation acquired by the terminal 12. In step S147, the retrievalunit 61 reads the information regarding the field 21 at the designatedcoordinates of the designated DB 55. That is, the information regardingthe field 21 at the designated coordinates of the DB 55 designated bythe user and received in step S146 is read. In step S148, thetransmission unit 53T outputs the read information regarding the field21. That is, the information read in step S147 is output to the terminal12.

In step S108, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives theread information regarding the field 21. In step S109, the displaycontrol unit 121 displays the received information regarding the field21.

The user views the information regarding the field displayed on thedisplay unit 102D and operates the input unit 103 to select a date ofthe information to be referred to. In step S110, the acquisition unit122 acquires information regarding the selection of the date of theinformation to be referred to. The information regarding the selectionof the date is output to the server 11 by the transmission unit 105T.

In step S149, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation regarding the selection of the date of the information to bereferred to. In step S150, the retrieval unit 61 reads the informationregarding the designated date. That is, the information received in stepS149 is read and the read information regarding the date is output bythe transmission unit 53T in step S151.

In step S111, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives theread information regarding the date. In step S112, the display controlunit 121 displays the information regarding the date received in stepS111.

In this way, by designating the DBs 55 which the user desires to referto, the coordinates of the field division 151 or the like, and the date,the information regarding the DBs 55 at each of the coordinates, e.g.,history information regarding the previous farm field and another farmfield designated by the user, is displayed on the display unit 102D, sothat the user can confirm the information.

As described above, the level of the field has been selected using thegeographic hierarchy icon 310. However, by operating the flag 301 of apredetermined field 21, the field 21 to be referred to can be designateddirectly.

Photo Upload Process

Next, a process when the user uploads photos from the terminal 12 to theserver 11 will be described. FIG. 21 is a diagram for describing a photoupload process.

In step S201, the acquisition unit 122 of the terminal 12 acquires photodata. For example, when the user finds a predetermined plant in thefield 21 and uploads a photo thereof to the server 11, the photographingunit 104 photographs the plant. When the photographing is performed, thephoto data is acquired by the acquisition unit 122. Of course, photodata stored in advance in a memory or the like can also be acquired asphoto data to be uploaded.

In step S202, the coordinate detection unit 101 acquires GPScoordinates. That is, the coordinates of a subject photographed by theterminal 12 are acquired. The coordinates can be set as a currentposition of the terminal 12 or can also be set as more accuratecoordinates of a subject obtained by calculating a distance and adirection from the current position to the subject and correcting thecurrent position. Further, the user can also be allowed to operate theinput unit 103 and input the coordinates.

In step S203, the display control unit 121 displays the DB 55 to belinked. In step S204, the acquisition unit 122 acquires informationregarding selection of the DB 55 to be linked. That is, when the useroperates the input unit 103 to select the DB 55 to be linked from adisplayed list, the acquisition unit 122 acquires the informationregarding the selection.

Further, the user operates the input unit 103 to input information(mainly, text information) to be added as a tag to a photo to beuploaded. For example, when a photo of napa cabbage is photographed, aname “napa cabbage” is input as tag information. When the information isinput, not only can text be input from a keyboard, but a method ofselecting a predetermined section from a prepared input page can also beused. In step S205, the acquisition unit 122 acquires the inputinformation set as the tag. In step S206, the transmission unit 105Toutputs the information acquired in steps S201, S202, S204, and S205.

In step S231, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation transmitted from the terminal 12. In step S232, the controlunit 54 records the information received in step S231 in the DB 55. Thatis, the photo photographed by the user is recorded along with the tag inthe photo recording DB 85 and the information is linked to the DB 55designated by the user.

In this way, the user can upload a predetermined photo and a tag fromthe terminal 12 to the server 11. The user can refer to the uploadedinformation later through the process described above in FIG. 20.

Even when various kinds of information are uploaded as well as thephoto, the same process is performed. For example, when 1 kg of napacabbage is harvested from the predetermined rib 152, “1 kg of napacabbage” is input as information to be uploaded. When the yield DB 73 isselected as the DB 55, the information “1 kg of napa cabbage” isrecorded in association with the acquired coordinates of the rib 152.

Process of Generating Cause-and-Effect Estimation Graph of Key Event

When the user finds an event considered to correspond to a key event,the event can be recorded as a key event in the meta-DB 86. Based onthis, a cause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event can begenerated. The key event is an event estimated to be important in termsof management of the collaborative farming and is defined by link ofname recording of a natural language and corresponding items of all ofthe DBs.

Next, a process of generating a cause-and-effect estimation graph of akey event will be described. FIG. 22 is a diagram for describing theprocess of generating the cause-and-effect estimation graph of the keyevent.

When the process of generating the cause-and-effect estimation graph ofthe key event starts, the user operates the input unit 103 to select thekey event icon 313 (see FIG. 19). At this time, in step S301, theacquisition unit 122 receives selection of the key event icon 313. Instep S302, the acquisition unit 122 acquires photo data and a date. Thatis, when the user photographs a plant which is an event which the userdesires to record as a key event using the photographing unit 104 andoperates the input unit 103 to input the date, such information isacquired by the acquisition unit 122.

In step S303, the coordinate detection unit 101 acquires the GPScoordinates. That is, the coordinates corresponding to the photographedphoto are acquired.

In step S304, the acquisition unit 122 acquires input text. That is,when the user operates the input unit 103 to input text information as akey event, the text information is acquired. For example, when the userfinds a rosette of napa cabbage, the user can photograph the cabbage andinput the text “rosette of napa cabbage” as a key event.

In step S305, the transmission unit 105T inputs the information to theserver 11. That is, the information acquired in steps S302, S303, andS304 is output to the server 11.

In step S351, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation transmitted from the terminal 12. In step S352, the keyevent processing unit 64 records the received information in the meta-DB86. That is, the information acquired in steps S302, S303, and S304 bythe terminal 12 is recorded in the meta-DB 86 serving as a key event DB.

In step S306, the acquisition unit 122 of the terminal 12 acquires thelevels of the fields 21. That is, when the user records the key event,the user operates the input unit 103 to select the geographic hierarchyicon 310 (see FIG. 19). When this operation is performed, the displayunit 102D displays a screen used to select the levels of the fields 21.The user operates the input unit 103 to select the levels of the fields21 to be referred to from the screen. When the acquisition unit 122acquires the information regarding the selection, the transmission unit105T outputs the information regarding the selection to the server 11.

In step S353, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation regarding the levels of the fields selected by the terminal12. In step S354, a process of generating and outputting a list of thefields 21 with the levels selected by the terminal 12 in step S306 isperformed. That is, the retrieval unit 61 retrieves the coordinate DB 80and generates the list of the fields 21 with the levels received in stepS353, and the transmission unit 53T outputs the list to the terminal 12.

In step S307, a process of receiving and displaying the list isperformed. That is, the list output from the server 11 is received bythe reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 and the list is displayed onthe display unit 102D by the display control unit 121.

The user operates the input unit 103 to select the field 21 to berecorded from the displayed list. In step S308, the transmission unit105T outputs information regarding the field 21 selected from the list.

In step S355, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation regarding the field 21 selected by the terminal 12.

In step S356, the retrieval unit 61 retrieves the DBs 55 of the field 21received in step S355. That is, the DBs 55 related to the field 21 withthe level designated by the user are retrieved. In step S357, a processof outputting a list of the retrieved DBs 55 of the field 21 isperformed. That is, the retrieval unit 61 generates the list of therelated DBs 55 based on the retrieval result and the transmission unit53T outputs the list to the terminal 12.

In step S309, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives thelist of the retrieved DBs 55 of the field 21. In step S310, the displaycontrol unit 121 displays the received list of the DBs 55 of the field21. That is, the list is displayed on the display unit 102D.

The user operates the input unit 103 to input the coordinates of thefield 21 and the DB 55 to be linked in the displayed list. In step S311,the acquisition unit 122 acquires information regarding the inputcoordinates of the field 21 and the DB 55 to be linked to the key event.In step S312, the transmission unit 105T outputs the informationacquired in step S311.

In step S358, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives theinformation output from the terminal 12. In step S359, the retrievalunit 61 reads the information regarding the field 21 at the designatedcoordinates of the designated DB 55. That is, the information regardingthe field 21 at the designated coordinates of the DB 55 designated bythe user and received in step S358 is read. In step S360, thetransmission unit 53T outputs the read information regarding the field21. That is, the information read in step S359 is output to the terminal12.

In step S313, the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receives theread information regarding the field 21. This information is displayedon the display unit 102D. The user views this display and confirms thatthe designated field 21 is the linked field 21. After the user confirmsthe designated field, the user operates the input unit 103 to give aninstruction to link the designated DB 55 to the key event. Based on theinstruction, the transmission unit 105T outputs a command for the linkin step S314.

In step S361, the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives thecommand for the link transmitted from the terminal 12. In step S362, thekey event processing unit 64 links a newly recorded key event to the DB55 of the designated field 21. That is, the key event newly recorded inthe meta-DB 86 in step S352 is linked to the DB 55 of the field 21designated by the user in step S311.

In step S315, the transmission unit 105T of the terminal 12 outputs acommand to generate a cause-and-effect estimation graph of the keyevent. That is, when the user also generates the cause-and-effectestimation graph of the key event, the user operates the input unit 103to give an instruction to output the command.

When the reception unit 53R of the server 11 receives the command fromthe terminal 12, the key event processing unit 64 generates thecause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event in step S363. In stepS364, the transmission unit 53T outputs the cause-and-effect estimationgraph of the key event generated in step S363.

In step S316, when the reception unit 105R of the terminal 12 receivesthe cause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event transmitted fromthe server 11, the display control unit 121 displays thecause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event on the display unit102D.

In this way, the uer can visually confirm the event correlated with therecorded key event. By accumulating the information of the DBs 55frequently, management utilizing the previous experience can beperformed.

FIG. 23 is a diagram schematically illustrating the process ofgenerating the cause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event. Asillustrated in the drawing, all of the DBs, i.e., the planting DB 71 tothe photo recording DB 85 of the collaborative farm, are linked to themeta-DB 86 serving as the key event DB, as necessary. Based on therecorded content of the meta-DB 86, a cause-and-effect estimation graph331 of a key event is generated. The linking is performed by the user,but the linking can also be performed automatically. In thecause-and-effect estimation graph 331, dots indicate key events andlines indicate linkage of the key events. Accordingly, the user canvisually recognize a relation of the plurality of key events from thecause-and-effect estimation graph 331. The user can determine variousfarm work with reference to this information.

When the graph is generated, for example, the software Gephi (trademark)can be used. The software has a function of generating data for graphingdisplay and output to TINAsoft and outputs a link between the key eventDB which is the meta-DB 86 collectively linking a plurality of items ofall of the DBs 55 and the key event DB in a form corresponding tographing display.

The cause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event is generated forthe following reasons. That is, in the management of the collaborativefarming, it is necessary to decide management harvest strategies bycomprehensively determining various measured indexes and a shape of anactual farm field that is difficult to digitize. At this time, anexisting mathematics engineering method of supposing a certainmathematical model, performing model identification from extrapolationof measured data, and constructing an information amount criterionoptimizing estimation using measured data as learning data in a frame ofmachine learning can be considered. However, it is difficult toeffectively apply this method to an open system in which disturbancefrom the outside is large and time and space diversities of a system areextensive.

The first reason is that it is difficult to simply estimate how a plantreacts to parameters (for example, temperature, precipitation, sunshine,chemical indexes of soil) quantitatively measured as physical andchemical indexes. Further, the fact that the causal relationship of theparameters can be confirmed only through actual reaction of an organismcalled a plant can also be exemplified.

However, no management may not be performed since the estimation may notbe performed simply from quantifiable measured parameters, but effectivemanagement is possible through experience in some cases in connectionwith biological phenomena (mainly, behaviors of an animal plexus orphenology) unsuitable for quantification. For example, it is difficultto physically estimate how weather will be in several months, but it isknown by experience that crop species to be planted more can beestimated depending on a form which a plant takes. For example, whennapa cabbage forms rosettes, it is known by experience that since thecoming winter will be cold, it is better to plant more napa cabbage andto plant less of plants that are easily affected by cold.

To support the management using such human comprehensive determinationand share the knowledge, the cause-and-effect estimation graph of thekey event is useful. Specifically, suppose that a practitioner of thecollaborative farming notices a symptom (for example, napa cabbageforming rosettes) which is effective for the management and not suitablefor quantification. Since the symptom is not a quantitative index andbut is typification of a reaction of an organism such as a plant, it isdifficult to express the symptom numerically. However, the symptom canbe recorded in natural language. For example, “napa cabbage is formingrosettes” can be recorded. This sentence is a key event. By associatingindexes expected to be associated with the symptom with the DBs 55, itsproperty can also be clarified to a third person.

For example, when the formation of rosettes by the napa cabbage isassociated with the fact that the temperature of the coming winter willbe lower, the formation of rosettes by the cabbage is linked to datacorresponding to the climatic division DB 78 and the weather DB 79. Evenwhen there is a relation between a predetermined key event and anotherkey event, a link is formed between the key events and serves as acause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event. For example,interlocking of “formation of rosettes by the cabbage” and “delay ofsprouting time in the following spring” serves as a cause-and-effectestimation graph. The cause and effect mentioned here also includecorrelation.

The definition of a key event and the cause-and-effect estimation graphof the key event are based on the human comprehensive determination, butare also based on human subjective expectation from the viewpoint ofscientific research. Accordingly, to verify repeatability oreffectiveness, it is necessary to verify effectiveness when themanagement is attempted using the definition of a key event and thecause-and-effect estimation graph of the key event. Therefore, afree-software development method of mutually sharing and jointlyconstructing key events and the cause-and-effect estimation graphs ofthe key events between practitioners of the collaborative farming andperforming the verification is necessary.

Specifically, a mechanism is introduced in such a manner that themeta-DB 86 is enhanced when a person practicing the collaborativefarming determines that a key event and the cause-and-effect estimationgraph of the key event are effective, and the meta-DB 86 is lessenedwhen the key event and the cause-and-effect estimation graph of the keyevent are not effective. The key event determined to be effective islinked to more of the DBs 55 and linkage between the key events issimilarly enhanced in the effective cause-and-effect estimation graph ofthe key event.

In this way, the DBs 55 are constructed as online interactive databasesin which the cause-and-effect estimation graphs of the key eventsserving as collective experiences in the form associated with thequantifiable parameters are constructed and updated jointly andfrequently by a collaborative farming practitioner group. That is, agroup of a plurality of users of the farm work support system 1 canshare information and reliably cultivate plants.

Example of Meta-DB 86 of Key Event

Events will be described as a specific example of a key event in theorder of a key event name, recording in a free language, and associatedDBs.

Key Event Name: Recording Wind Protection Effect

Recording in free language: In a place around which a structure such asa wall blocking wind is present, vegetable growth increases even underthe same land conditions.

Associated DBs: the coordinate DB 80, the yield DB 73, the managementrecording DB 74, the vegetation DB 72, and the phenology DB 75

Key Event Name: Soil Formation and Decrease in Sprout Rate of Lettuce

Recording in free language: Lettuce sprouts well in cultivated land, butrarely sprouts when land is not continuously cultivated and a soilstructure is formed.

Associated DBs: the planting DB 71, the management recording DB 74, thevegetation DB 72, and the phenology DB 75

Key Event Name: Competitive Growth

Recording in free language: Even when nutriment in earth is the same,vegetables grow larger by competition with other vegetation.

Associated DBs: the vegetation DB 72, the phenology DB 75, and the yieldDB 73

As specific examples of the competitive growth, there are an example inwhich carrots become large through competition with black nightshade,and an example in which a sprout rate is bad in a rib in which summergrass is not cut, but individual vegetables grow more.

Key Event Name: Rosette Formation

Recording in free language: Some kinds of vegetables change to a form inwhich the lie flat on the ground during the winter season, do not withereven when it is cold, and survive until spring. Even in this state, thevegetables can be harvested.

Associated DB: the vegetation DB 72, the phenology DB 75, the yield DB73, and the weather DB 79

Key Event Name: Tinged with Red

Recording in free language: During the winter season, vegetables such ascarrots or cabbage are tinged with red in some cases. Even when tingedwith red, the vegetables can be harvested.

Associated DBs: the vegetation DB 72, the phenology DB 75, the yield DB73, and the weather DB 79

Key Event Name: Late Frost

Recording in free language: When the ground surface is 4° C. or lessimmediately after sprouting in spring, buds are completely destroyed dueto late frost. Therefore, comprehensive countermeasures are necessaryfor establishment of sowing or seedlings.

Associated DBs: the planting DB 71, the management recording DB 74, thevegetation DB 72, the phenology DB 75, and the weather DB 79

Others

The network refers to a structure configured of at least two devicesthat are connected and through which information can be transmitted froma certain device to another device. The devices communicating via anetwork may be independent devices or may be internal blocks configuredto form one device.

Communication may be not only wireless communication and wiredcommunication, but may also be communication in which wirelesscommunication and wired communication are mixed, i.e., communication inwhich wireless communication is performed in a certain section and wiredcommunication is performed in another section. Further, communicationfrom a certain device to another device is performed in a wired mannerand communication from the other device to the certain device isperformed in a wireless manner.

Application of the Present Technology to Program

The above-described series of processes can be executed by hardware orcan be executed by software.

When the series of processing is performed by software, a program thatforms the software is installed from a network or a recording medium toa computer that is incorporated in a dedicated hardware, or to, forexample, a general-purpose personal computer that can perform varioustypes of functions by installing various types of programs.

The recording medium including the program is configured to include theremovable media 57 and 108 distributed to provide the program to usersseparately from the device body, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Themovable media 57 and 108 are configured to include a magnetic disk(including a floppy disk) on which the program is recorded, an opticaldisc (including a Compact Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) and a DVD), amagneto-optical disc (including a Mini-Disk (MD)), and a semiconductormemory. Alternatively, the movable media 57 and 108 are configured toinclude a flash ROM or a hard disk which is embedded in advance into thedevice body to be provided to users and on which the program isrecorded.

Note that, in this specification, steps that record the program to berecorded in the recording medium do not necessarily have to be performedin time series in line with the order of the steps, and instead mayinclude processing that is performed in parallel or individually.

Further, in the present disclosure, a system has the meaning of a set ofa plurality of configured elements (such as an apparatus or a module(part)), and does not take into account whether or not all theconfigured elements are in the same casing. Therefore, the system may beeither a plurality of apparatuses, stored in separate casings andconnected through a network, or a plurality of modules within a singlecasing.

The embodiment of the present technology is not limited to theabove-described embodiment. It should be understood by those skilled inthe art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations andalterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factorsinsofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or theequivalents thereof.

For example, the present disclosure can adopt a configuration of cloudcomputing which processes by allocating and connecting one function by aplurality of apparatuses through a network.

Further, each step described by the above mentioned flow charts can beexecuted by one apparatus or by allocating a plurality of apparatuses.

In addition, in the case where a plurality of processes is included inone step, the plurality of processes included in this one step can beexecuted by one apparatus or by allocating a plurality of apparatuses.

Other Configurations of the Present Technology

Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.

(1) A farm work support device including:

a reception unit configured to receive designation of plants to becultivated;

a retrieval unit configured to retrieve a vegetation design which is avegetation combination proper for construction of a mixed and densegrowth state of the designated plants; and

an output unit configured to output the retrieved vegetation design.

(2)The farm work support device according to (1), further including:

an evaluation unit configured to evaluate a score of the retrievedvegetation design,

wherein the output unit outputs the vegetation design corresponding tothe score evaluated by the evaluation unit.

(3) The farm work support device according to (1) or (2), furtherincluding:

a calculation unit configured to calculate a score of the retrievedvegetation design,

wherein the evaluation unit evaluates the score calculated by thecalculation unit.

(4) The farm work support device according to any one of (1) to (3),wherein the output unit outputs the vegetation design corresponding tothe score of which a value is higher.(5) The farm work support device according to any one of (1) to (4),wherein the retrieval unit retrieves the vegetation design from at leastone of allelopathy of the plants and information regarding crop rotationaptitude.(6) The farm work support device according to any one of (2) to (5),wherein the score is an average value of scores of the crop rotationaptitude and the allelopathy to which a collection of the plantscorresponds.(7) The farm work support device according to any one of (1) to (6),wherein the plants are cultivated according to collaborative farming.(8) The farm work support device according to any one of (1) to (7),wherein the plants are managed based on GPS coordinates of vegetationpositions of the plants.(9) The farm work support device according to (8), wherein a tag ismanaged in conjunction with the GPS coordinates of the plants.(10) The farm work support device according to (9), wherein the tag isdisplayed to be superimposed on an image of the plants as an AR tag.(11) The farm work support device according to any one of (8) to (10),wherein a key event is managed in conjunction with the GPS coordinatesof the plants.(12) The farm work support device according to any one of (8) to (11),wherein a photo of the plants is managed in conjunction with the GPScoordinates of the plants.(13) The farm work support device according to (12), wherein theassociated key event is graphed.(14) The farm work support device according to any one of (1) to (13),wherein a field in which the plants vegetate is managed hierarchically.(15) The farm work support device according to (14), wherein the fieldis managed on a map.(16) A farm work support method including:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

retrieving a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

outputting the retrieved vegetation design.

(17) A program causing a computer to perform:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

retrieving a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

outputting the retrieved vegetation design.

(18) A recording medium recording a program causing a computer toperform:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

retrieving a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

outputting the retrieved vegetation design.

(19) A farm work support device including:

a reception unit configured to receive designation of plants to becultivated;

an acquisition unit configured to acquire a vegetation design of thedesignated plants; and

a display unit configured to display the acquired vegetation design.

(20) The farm work support device according to (19), wherein the farmwork support device is carried and used in a field.(21) The farm work support device according to (19) or (20), furtherincluding:

a photographing unit configured to photograph the plants.

(22) The farm work support device according to any one of (19) or (21),further including:

a detection unit configured to detect the GPS coordinates of vegetationpositions of the plants.

(23) The farm work support device according to (22), further including:

an input unit configured to input at least one of a tag conjunct withthe GPS coordinates of the plants and a key event conjunct with the GPScoordinates of the plants.

(24) The farm work support device according to (23), wherein the displayunit displays the tag to be superimposed on an image of the plantsphotographed by the photographing unit.(25) The farm work support device according to any one of (19) to (24),wherein the display unit hierarchically displays a field in which theplants vegetate.(26) The farm work support device according to (25), wherein the displayunit displays a position of the field on a map.(27) The farm work support device according to any one of (19) to (26),wherein the plants are cultivated according to collaborative farming.(28) The farm work support device according to (27), wherein the displayunit displays the vegetation design corresponding to evaluated scores.(29) The farm work support device according to (28),

wherein the display unit displays the vegetation design corresponding tothe scores of which a value is higher, and

wherein the input unit designates the number of displayed scores ofwhich the value is higher.

(30) The farm work support device according to any one of (19) to (29),wherein the display unit displays the vegetation design retrieved fromat least one of allelopathy of the plants and information regarding croprotation aptitude.(31) The farm work support device according to (30), wherein the scoreis an average value of all elements of the crop rotation aptitude andthe allelopathy to which a collection of the plants corresponds.(32) A farm work support method including:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

acquiring a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

displaying the acquired vegetation design.

(33) A program causing a computer to perform:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

acquiring a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

displaying the acquired vegetation design.

(34) A recording medium recording a program causing a computer toperform:

receiving designation of plants to be cultivated;

acquiring a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

displaying the acquired vegetation design.

(35) A farm work support system configured to:

receive designation of plants to be cultivated;

retrieve a vegetation design of the designated plants; and

display the retrieved vegetation design.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present subjectmatter and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is thereforeintended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appendedclaims.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1 farm work support system

11 server

12 terminal

21 field

54 control unit

55 database

61 retrieval unit

62 calculation unit

63 evaluation unit

64 key event processing unit

104 photographing unit

106 control unit

1. A collaborative farm work support system comprising: a memory; and aprocessor in communication with the memory, the processor configured to:store information regarding a plurality of previous key events ofprevious instances of a crop cultivated in one or more fields; receiveinformation regarding a key event of the crop cultivated in a firstfield different from the one or more fields from a user device via anetwork; generate support information for the crop based on arelationship between the received information regarding the key event ofthe crop cultivated in the first field and the stored informationregarding the plurality of previous key events of previous instances ofthe crop cultivated in the one or more fields; and transmit the supportinformation and the generated tagged image to the user device via thenetwork.
 2. The collaborative farm work support system of claim 1,wherein the information regarding the key event of the crop cultivatedin the first field includes an image of the crop cultivated in the firstfield, a date that the image of the crop cultivated in the first fieldwas taken, GPS coordinates of the position of the crop cultivated in thefirst field, and natural language text describing the key event of thecrop cultivated in the first field.
 3. The collaborative farm worksupport system of claim 1, wherein the support information links the keyevent of the crop cultivated in the first field to at least one of theprevious key events in a cause-and-effect relationship.
 4. Thecollaborative farm work support system of claim 1, wherein the supportinformation is a cause-and-effect estimation graph generated using amachine learning model.
 5. The collaborative farm work support system ofclaim 1, wherein the information regarding a plurality of previous keyevents of previous instances of a crop cultivated in one or more fieldsis stored in a plurality of discrete databases.
 6. The collaborativefarm work support system of claim 5, wherein the support information isa cause-and-effect estimation graph, and wherein the cause-and-effectestimation graph is generated by a graph and network software programthat links information between the plurality of discrete databases. 7.The collaborative farm work support system of claim 1, wherein thereceived information regarding the key event of the crop cultivated inthe first field includes a natural language text string describing thekey event of the crop cultivated in the first field, wherein the storedinformation regarding the plurality of previous key events of previousinstances of the crop cultivated in the one or more fields includes aplurality of natural language text strings describing the plurality ofprevious key events, and wherein the relationship between the receivedinformation regarding the key event of the crop cultivated in the firstfield and the stored information regarding the plurality of previous keyevents of previous instances of the crop cultivated in the one or morefields is defined based on the natural language text string and theplurality of natural language text strings.
 8. The collaborative farmwork support system of claim 1, wherein the information regarding theplurality of previous key events of previous instances of the cropcultivated in the one or more fields includes information on reactionsof the crop to environmental factors including temperature,precipitation, sunshine, or chemical indexes of soil.
 9. Thecollaborative farm work support system of claim 1, wherein the augmentedreality tag includes GPS coordinates at which the crop was located inthe image of the crop cultivated in the first field.
 10. A collaborativefarm work support method comprising: storing information regarding aplurality of previous key events of previous instances of a cropcultivated in one or more fields; receiving information regarding a keyevent of the crop cultivated in a first field different from the one ormore fields from a user device via a network; generating supportinformation for the crop based on a relationship between the receivedinformation regarding the key event of the crop cultivated in the firstfield and the stored information regarding the plurality of previous keyevents of previous instances of the crop cultivated in the one or morefields; and transmitting the support information and the generatedtagged image to the user device via the network.
 11. The collaborativefarm work support method of claim 10, wherein the information regardingthe key event of the cultivated crop includes an image of the cropcultivated in the first field and a date that the image of the cropcultivated in the first field was taken.
 12. The collaborative farm worksupport method of claim 10, wherein the information regarding the keyevent of the crop cultivated in the first field includes GPS coordinatesof the crop cultivated in the first field.
 13. The collaborative farmwork support method of claim 10, further comprising generating a taggedimage including an augmented reality tag superimposed on the receivedimage of the crop cultivated in the first field, wherein the augmentedreality tag includes at least some of the received information regardingthe key event of the crop cultivated in the first field.
 14. Thecollaborative farm work support method of claim 13, wherein theaugmented reality tag includes position information of the cropcultivated in the first field.
 15. The collaborative farm work supportmethod of claim 10, wherein the information regarding the key event ofthe crop cultivated in the first field includes a natural language textstring describing the key event of the crop cultivated in the firstfield.
 16. The collaborative farm work support method of claim 10,wherein each of the one or more fields and the first field include aplurality of different crop species arranged for collaborative farming.17. The collaborative farm work support method of claim 10, wherein thefirst field is in a different geographical region than the one or morefields.
 18. The collaborative farm work support method of claim 10,wherein the support information is generated based on received feedbackfrom the user device related to a cause-and-effect relationship linkingat least two of the plurality of previous key events.
 19. Acollaborative farm work support system comprising: a first user deviceincluding: a first memory, and a first processor in communication withthe first memory, the first processor configured to transmit informationregarding a key event of a crop cultivated in a first field; a seconduser device including: a second memory, and a second processor incommunication with the second memory, the second processor configured totransmit information regarding a key event of the crop cultivated in asecond field, the second field in a different geographic region than thefirst field; and a collaborative farming support apparatus including: athird memory, and a third processor in communication with the thirdmemory, the processor configured to: store information regarding aplurality of previous key events of previous instances of the cropcultivated in one or more fields including the information regarding thekey event of the crop cultivated in the second field received from thesecond user device via a network, receive the information regarding thekey event of the crop cultivated in the first field from the first userdevice via the network, generate support information for the crop basedon a relationship between the received information regarding the keyevent of the crop cultivated in the first field and the storedinformation regarding the plurality of previous key events of previousinstances of the crop cultivated in the one or more fields; and transmitthe support information and the generated tagged image to the first userdevice via the network.
 20. The collaborative farm work support systemof claim 16, wherein the first and second user devices are eachconfigured to be carried by an individual in the first and second fieldsrespectively.